Call to Action

Call to Action

As the Trump presidency moves from one week to the next and we all focus on policy issues like health care and transportation, or financial reform and the budget, or the larger picture of Russian interference in our election and now obstruction of justice, we want to focus on what will make Indivisible and all of us successful.

You can take part in these strategies and tactics whether or not you are part of a large group, or on your own, and it doesn’t matter if you have weekly meetings or monthly meetings, or online meetings. Together, we are Indivisible. Together, we will win.

We highlight the four local advocacy tactics on our home page because we know they work. They are town halls, local public events, district office visits, and coordinated calls. These tactics are how we have contact, and how we can influence our MoC.

Our MoC seem to have stage fright in Idaho. They don’t want to appear for town halls, with the exception of Raul Labrador who is running for governor and appeared to use his town halls as a platform to gain publicity and announce his run. Town halls are still the best way we can directly ask questions of our representatives, and it’s important we keep pressure on them to hold these public events. Check @townhallproject for the latest report.

Local public events are often where we see our MoC when they are home on recess. How do we find out about these appearances? News alerts, Google alerts, their Facebook pages, and the local papers. Our MoC should not be anywhere in our state on these breaks without speaking to their constituents first.

If there are no events scheduled, or during the weeks when our MoCs are in Washington, use the opportunity to have a District Office Visit. Depending on what area of the state you live in, these office visits typically occur every week and various times throughout the week with different representatives. In the Treasure Valley area, Indivisible Idaho’s group visits Crapo, Risch and Simpson’s office and you’ll find those dates on our event calendar. If you live outside of the Treasure Valley, Indivisible North Idaho, Blaine County, Mountain Home, etc., also have District Office Visits at certain times of the week or month – check to see when those occur, or call your local office and schedule an appointment to attend with your own group.

If you or your group run into a problem at the meeting:

Following town halls, and office visits, the next best option is coordinated phone calls:

When you call your MoC office, and you have prepared remarks, make sure you ask for the person who handles the topic you are calling about. For example, ask to speak with the staffer who handles health care for the Senator if you are calling Risch’s office to ask that he votes no on the AHCA and you have facts, or a personal story to share. You can find a list of those staffers at:http://congressional-staff.insidegov.com

If you don’t reach a human being, you can leave a voicemail, but make sure to follow-up.When you do speak to someone on the phone, take notes about the conversation and their response. Save copies of any letters or emails you receive from your Senator or Congressman and publish them to social media (remove your personal information). Write letters to the editor.

Our MoC see those letters to the editor – and they do actually care. Our representatives care a lot about the negative press coverage, and the people camped outside their doors, the signs, and the emails. At the very heart of it, politicians want to be liked, and more than anything, they want to be re-elected. That is what it all comes down to.

This is a long process, a long fight. The techniques above, put together by the Indivisible Project apply to any scenario, any policy, and to you, at any time. Remember to take a break when you need it, and to fight hard when we need you. Together, we are Indivisible.

We are citizen activists. This is our opportunity to be loud and remind our MoC’s that they work for us, not the other way around. Stand Strong. Stand United. Stand Indivisible.Indivisible Idaho